Search for 2 remaining El Monte home invasion suspects continues

Authorities are looking for two remaining suspects who they believe are responsible for three consecutive home invasions in El Monte on Sunday that have left three people injured.

A clearer picture of the incident emerged on Monday, in which the intruders reportedly tied some victims with zip ties, beat them, pointed a gun at a boy and took a dollar from the child.

One victim told KTLA-TV Channel 5 that intruders broke through a sliding glass door to their home where they had been celebrating a child’s birthday hours earlier.

The woman told the news channel the intruders zip-tied her and told a boy inside the house to give the intruders all his money – a single dollar bill.

According to the KTLA, the intruders made their way to a neighbor’s home after grabbing what they could.

“We told them, ‘You know they don’t have anything. They’re just old people,'” she told the news channel. “All I could hear was screaming and then the gunshots, and at that point I was just praying, ‘Oh my God, they killed her.’

However, the shot was a warning and the victims were badly beaten, according to the KTLA.

Authorities have arrested Ajaon Payne, 24, of Compton in connection with the incident, Lt. Doug Knight, a guard commander with the El Monte Police Department, told The Times on Monday.

A 17-year-old was also arrested but not named because of his age.

Two other suspects, both men, remain at large, Knight said.

Officers were called to the 2700 block of Potrero Avenue around 1:10 a.m. Sunday, where thieves had broken into three neighboring homes, police told The Times after the incident.

In the third house, three people were hit with a blunt object and taken to a hospital. One is in serious condition, police said on Sunday.

Knight had no update on the victims’ condition Monday.